Darkness Gathers

Part One of the Darkness Trilogy

Chapter Eight

It was only a couple of hours before the students' lights out when Kat wandered into the Professor's study not entirely sure how she was going to make her case for letting her take off for an undetermined amount of time to get some space for herself and maybe visit her family; at the very least go lay on a beach in California. Not only that but she needed some time away from Gambit to clear her mind and figure out just what the hell was going on and to think on Wolverine's thought that she was pushing her own emotional state about the whole thing onto Gambit and it wasn't real. She didn't think that was the case but…she shook her head as she knocked on the door leaning a shoulder against the wall.

"Come on in, Katherine," the Professor answered almost instantly at the first knock.

Kat slipped through the door quietly and closed it, leaning back against it, "Sorry about the late visit, Professor."

Xavier merely smiled and leaned back in his chair watching her as she still hadn't moved from where she was leaning against the door. He knew there was something bothering her but was letting her find her own way of telling him. It wasn't like Kat to come to him with any of her problems, even back when she'd been a teenager with more problems than he had names for she'd kept it to herself never wanting to display weakness to start with and later she just didn't want to bother anyone with her issues.

"It's no problem. I was just grading some papers," he assured her.

Kat nodded slightly and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. The control she had to exhibit over her empathic abilities usually translated to her having exceptional control over her own emotional state but she knew that wasn't going to last once she laid things out for the Professor. Still she had to talk to him; she needed to get away for a couple of weeks and think. Finally she moved away from the door and dropped into a chair with a world weary sigh seeming to collapse in on herself.

"I need to take some personal time…well away from the mansion," she finally muttered.

Xavier laced his fingers together and leaned his forearms on his desk as he watched her, "Alright but you know I need a reason."

Kat nodded slightly, "I need to…distance myself from Gambit for a while just too…test something."

"Katherine…" he needed more than that and she knew it.

"I'm terrified that I'm influencing him, Professor," she muttered her gaze glued to her own hands that were clenched into fists on her legs. "I need to know for sure that…"

Xavier shook his head, he'd suspected as much, "Kat you know if I thought that were the case I would tell you so that we could find and remedy the situation."

"I know that but…damn it! If it had been anyone other than Logan that had said something!" she growled though the professor knew it was directed inward and not at him.

"If you feel this is the only way to gain the peace of mind you need, take the time but be careful. Are you going to tell anyone else you're leaving?"

Kat shook her head, "They'd want to come with me or talk me out of it or something and I can't have either one."

Xavier nodded, "Alright, I'll do what I can to give you some kind of a head start but I will be checking in on you telepathically."

"Thank you," Kat muttered pushing to her feet and starting for the door only to be stopped when Xavier followed her.

She was still getting used to the idea that he could walk again, though he was still working on getting full strength back in his legs and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Just remember where family is, Kat. We're always going to be here when you need us…even when you don't realize you need us."

On impulse Kat wrapped the professor in a brief hug, shocking and surprising the man but before he could say or do anything in return she was gone. He sighed knowing just how badly she was struggling and only hoped that she'd be able to figure things out quickly enough. The mansion was about to be filled with very irate mutants and he cringed to think of the way both Wolverine and Gambit were going to handle things when they realized she'd left without a word; and that he'd allowed it.

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Kat waited until the rest of the mansion was asleep before she gathered her two duffel bags that she'd packed before even going to talk to Xavier and slipped out of her room and down the stairs. One duffel contained winter clothes for the majority of her trip west while the other had things that she'd want when she got out to the west coast. Pulling on boots she grabbed her coat and slipped silently into the parking garage. That was one advantage to being feral, she could move in complete silence when she wanted to making it possible to escape the mansion without drawing the attention of even Wolverine. She surveyed her vehicle choices but after the blizzard that had raged all day, she opted for taking Wolverine's Jeep. She knew it was in good condition and had good winter tires as well as being four wheel drive so it made the most sense; other than the fact that Wolverine was going to be pissed when he realized she'd disappeared with his vehicle.

Shrugging it off, she dug the keys out of the box, slid behind the wheel and drove off into the night. She knew she needed to put as much distance between her and the school as she could manage before the others realized she'd left knowing that Wolverine would be on her tail instantly. She shook it off however as she drove through the darkness and into the morning, not stopping other than for some gas and coffee until late the next afternoon. Finally she pulled into a hotel and got a room needing to get some much needed sleep. The following morning found her back on the road again continuing west down the interstate finding that it was a lot harder to leave the mansion and the X-Men behind her even for just a week than she'd ever thought it would be.

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It wasn't until the afternoon of the first day of Kat being gone that anyone really noticed that she wasn't around. Her class had their usual schedule for morning chores so they didn't think twice when Xavier informed them that Kat had cancelled their classes for the next week or so but they were expected to continue with the chores. The rest of the adults didn't think anything was too strange when they didn't see her either since it wasn't unusual for her to spend the entire day in the stables.

By mid-afternoon however when Gambit couldn't find hide or hair of the feral he was beginning to suspect something was wrong. Finally he headed to Xavier to see if he had any answers for him. He was called into the study as soon as he knocked and he stepped inside to see Xavier hold a hand up for him to not speak yet.

"Yes, I am aware that Kat is not around the mansion. She left late last night for some personal time. Before you ask it does have something to do with you but not entirely. We all seem to forget that Kat struggles with her abilities more than we see and she is absolutely terrified that what you feel for her is not real but merely a subconscious empathic push on her part. No matter the reassurances from me or anyone else, she needed to make sure that it was not the case and putting distance between the two of you was the only way she could think to do so."

"I don' understand. Why didn' she jus' say somethin' to me?"

"Because she doesn't show weakness of any form. It's extremely complicated and it's not my place to elaborate and tell you any more about her past than she is willing to share herself. Just know that she didn't make the decision lightly and it in no way changes the way she feels about you in any way. She just needed to prove this to herself."

Gambit finally nodded and disappeared back into the mansion though Xavier knew he was beyond upset at the idea that she'd run away rather than talk to him. He sighed and only hoped that in time Kat would be able to talk to someone other than him about what she had endured so early in her life. Which reminded him, he needed to see if Beast had made any progress.

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It wasn't long after Gambit left Xavier's office before Wolverine was beginning to realize the same thing; Kat was nowhere around the mansion or the grounds. Deciding he'd head into town to see if he could find her, he went to get his Jeep after the snowfall only to realize that it was gone as well. He growled under his breath before starting into mansion again. He paused when he spotted Gambit starting up the stairs and he snarled.

"Gumbo! Where the hell is she?!"

Gambit turned around with a glare at the feral not in the mood now to deal with Wolverine, "How da hell should I know?! I didn' know she was gone until ten minutes ago!"

"Well what did you do?" claws slid through flesh as he closed on Gambit and the Cajun pulled a card from his pocket letting it glow as he charged it.

Gambit glared, "I didn' do nothin'! Kat da one who decided it was easier ta run den ta talk!"

Wolverine growled and tensed to leap at the Cajun when the Professor's voice rang through the foyer and stopped them both cold, "That's enough out of both of you! Wolverine in my office! Gambit she doesn't talk to anybody about her past!"

Gambit withdrew his charge and tossed the card away before disappearing up the stairs with a string of curses. Wolverine growled but headed into the office just ahead of Xavier and rounded on the older man as soon as the door was closed.

"Sit down, Logan," Xavier snapped and Wolverine jerked at the real heat in the tone as he did as instructed. "Yes, I am aware that Kat is not around the mansion. She left late last night for some personal time. We all seem to forget that Kat struggles with her abilities more than we see and she is absolutely terrified that what you said about her using an empathic push on Gambit might be true. No matter the reassurances from me she felt the only way to be sure was to put as much distance between her and him as she could."

"I was just worried…" Wolverine started but trailed off at the glare Xavier gave him.

"I understand you're worried that Gambit is going to hurt her. It is, however, her mistake to make and not yours. It was not your place to put that kind of doubt in her mind about her own control. You of all people know the struggles she's faced and continues to face. The fact that you didn't seem to trust her control shook her to her very core, Logan! If there was an issue of that sort do you not think that I would have said something?! Empathy and telepathy may be different but I can tell when she is using her abilities even when she doesn't!"

"I have to fix this…where is she?" Wolverine questioned all anger draining from his form at least for the moment.

"You also need to apologize to Gambit for that outburst at some point. She was heading for California but she has nearly a day's head start as I promised her I would give her as much as I could."

"Right…California," Wolverine muttered pushing to his feet ready to head off and get his fellow feral back.

"Logan…don't go alone this time. She's not going to just follow you home like she has before," Xavier pointed out.

"Right, I'll take someone," Wolverine muttered before disappearing out of the door.

Xavier sighed and rubbed his temples before shaking his head, "Some days I wonder how I've lived this long."

Wolverine paced out of the office and started for the garage vowing to drag the first person he came across that he could stand for a three day drive to California. That person just happened to be Renegade and although he didn't trust her very far as of yet, he could at least tolerate her company and all else failed at least he could really work out some frustration in sparring her.

"We're going to California. Let's go," he growled at her, grabbing her elbow and spinning her around to follow him before releasing her arm though he never broke stride.

"Okay…" she muttered falling in step behind him.

Wolverine didn't even bother letting her head to her own car as he grabbed the keys to Scott's red Mustang getting behind the wheel. He barely gave Renegade time to get in the passenger seat and close the door before he tore out of the garage and onto the road, heading west when they reached the interstate.